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Contrary to what some of you might think, I am not pregnant. I do baby posts every now and then because I feel like it’s what I know (other than sports and grammar, and I don’t think any of my readers are interested in either of those things). Anyway . . .
If you have a pet and are pregnant, you might be worried about how your animal will react to a new baby. I was! I don’t know if these things would work well for a cat or other animal, but they worked well for our dog, Sabra.
Desensitize your pet to the rough handling of babies and toddlers. This is best to start when you have a puppy: touch the puppy in places where a child most likely will: tail, ears, nose, mouth, and in between their paws. If you don’t consciously do this, a dog will probably not be touched/pulled/grabbed here, so when a child does it, the dog will snap and react. So, if you prep the dog enough to where he’s not bothered by it, it should help.
Take the dog to places where there are little kids like parks. The goal is not necessarily to have the dog interact with the kids but to let the dog see how kids act.
Let your dog hear baby sounds. I would watch A Baby Story on TLC and other shows that had babies crying. Each time the baby would cry, I say to Sabra, “See that’s a baby. The baby is crying.” She needed to hear these sounds so she could adjust and wouldn’t be caught off guard by a newborn crying all day.
Carry around a baby doll. Your dog will become familiar with you holding something delicate. You can let your dog investigate the baby doll, so you can teach him boundaries like, “Don’t lick the baby. Please don’t scratch her arm.”
Let your dog smell the baby. We had my in-laws take home a baby blanket that had been wrapped around Abigail in the hospital. They let Sabra become familiar with her smell.
Praise the dog for good behavior around the baby.
Ask your veterinarian for other tips.
Just because your dog may not act well around certain kids, doesn’t mean the dog will be bad with your child. When our one year old nephew would come over, Sabra would start to nip at him and herd him when he got near her food. This really concerned me.
But Sabra is great with Abigail. Abigail goes near Sabra’s food, touches it, and Sabra doesn’t bat an eye. They are great friends. Well, Sabra tolerates her, but Abby ADORES Sabra. Abigail gives her biggest smiles and laughs because of Sabra, and it makes my heart happy.
I love my dog. I really do. But in no way would I ever consider building or buying her a dog house like some of the ones here.
Can you imagine paying $30,000 for a dog house?! Okay, maybe . . . maybe if I were a debt free, I might consider getting a neat house for my dog. But, I don’t know– probably not. We just recently sold our Dogloo on Craigslist because Sabra never got in it.
Do you need a new car? What if it were “dog friendly”? Well, Honda has made a new car that has . . .
a cushioned dog bed with restraints in its truck
a built-in, spill proof resistant water bowl
rear ventilator fan
a ramp to help smaller or older dogs climb in
easy-wash seat covers,
a paw logo on the side
It’s going to be a Honda Element utility vehicle, and it’ll be be released this Fall in the U.S. The current model of the Element starts at $20,000, but Honda hasn’t figured out a price yet for the added pet friendly features.
Posted in Media Monday on 04/06/2009 01:00 am by lori
Have you seen the movie Marley and Me? Jonathan and I watched it last night, and I’d be lying if I said that a few tears weren’t shed. It was a feel good, clean family movie.
I expected it to be a lot funnier since Owen Wilson was starring, but I only had about 3 really good laughs. But, I’m glad I watched the movie. It was especially touching to Jonathan and me, seeing as we got a dog first and then had a baby. Well, I’ll quit talking about it, in case you haven’t seen the movie.
I had seen previews about the movie, but I didn’t know that it was originally a book. I did some searching and found out that you can download the audio book for free right now.
What will they think of next? For $550, you can get a treadmill for your small dog (for larger dogs, the prices go up to $900). The Canine Treadmill has a quiet motor, and speed, distance, and incline can be adjusted with simple controls. I’m sure this would come in handy in the winter time– especially up north, or if you live in a particularly rainy area. I know that Sabra gets feisty and let’s face it, annoying, when she doesn’t get out and exercise. Maybe if it were $20, I’d consider it.
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